II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1080 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to limit the jurisdiction of Federal 

courts to consider cases involving same-sex marriage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to limit the jurisdiction of Federal courts to consider cases involving samesex marriage. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Marriage from 

5 the Courts Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. 

7 The Senate makes the following findings: 

8 (1) In Baker v. Nelson, 409 U.S. 810 (1972), 

9 the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a 

10 State law defining marriage as the union of one man 


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1 and one woman against a constitutional challenge by 

2 a same-sex couple seeking to marry. The Court re3 jected the challenge in a one-sentence order that 

4 read, ‘‘The appeal is dismissed for want of a sub5 stantial federal question.’’. 

6 (2) The Supreme Court’s judgment in Baker is 

7 as sound today as it was then. Challenging a State 

8 marriage law on the basis that it does not extend to 

9 same-sex couples raises no substantial Federal ques10 tion because nothing in the text or history of the 

11 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

12 States even arguably indicates a general public un13 derstanding at the time of ratification that the rati14 fiers had adopted a constitutional principle that in15 validated State laws defining marriage as a male-fe16 male union. 

17 (3) It follows that the power to decide whether 

18 to extend the legal status and benefits of marriage 

19 to same-sex couples does not belong to the courts, 

20 but rests instead with the people through their elect21 ed State representatives, unless their State constitu22 tions provide otherwise. The Constitution of the 

23 United States leaves it to the people of each State 

24 to decide for themselves through their democratic 


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1 processes how to redefine the legal meaning of mar2 riage for purposes of their respective State laws. 

3 (4) Numerous Federal courts, including the 

4 United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, 

5 Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, have neverthe6 less invalidated State marriage laws that do not 

7 allow the licensing of same-sex marriages. In so 

8 doing, these courts have exceeded their authority 

9 under the Constitution and have usurped the peo10 ple’s exclusive authority to decide this issue. Pending 

11 before the Supreme Court are 4 related cases chal12 lenging the marriage laws in Kentucky, Michigan, 

13 Ohio, and Tennessee. 

14 (5) The purpose of this Act (including the 

15 amendment made by this Act) is to maintain the au16 thority of the States to define marriage and to pre17 vent, consistent with the Constitution, any further 

18 unlawful action by Federal courts until such time as 

19 an amendment to the Constitution is enacted un20 equivocally guaranteeing that the States have the 

21 power to define marriage as limited to the union of 

22 one man and one woman. 

23 (6) This Act prevents that unlawful action by 

24 eliminating the jurisdiction of all courts created by 

25 Federal law, as well as the appellate jurisdiction of 


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1 the Supreme Court, to adjudicate claims pertaining 

2 to the constitutionality of State marriage laws. Be3 cause section 1 of article III of the Constitution 

4 gives Congress the power to ‘‘ordain and establish’’ 

5 ‘‘inferior Courts’’, the Supreme Court has long held 

6 that Congress has the power to limit the jurisdiction 

7 of the lower Federal courts. See Palmore v. United 

8 States, 411 U.S. 389, 400–01 (1973). In addition, 

9 section 2 of article III of the Constitution gives Con10 gress the power to make ‘‘Exceptions’’ to the appel11 late jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The Supreme 

12 Court itself has acknowledged that this power ap13 plies even to cases that are pending before the 

14 Court. See Ex parte McCardle, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 

15 506, 514 (1869). 

16 (7) Finally, this Act makes clear that a court’s 

17 judgment only applies to the parties before the court 

18 and that nonparties have no legal obligation to com19 ply with the decision until so ordered by a court. 

20 SEC. 3. LIMITATION OF JURISDICTION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 99 of title 28, United 

22 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1632. Limitations on Federal jurisdiction 

2 ‘‘(a) No court created by Federal law shall have juris3 diction, and the Supreme Court shall have no appellate 

4 jurisdiction, to adjudicate or enforce any claim pertaining 

5 to the validity, under the Constitution of the United 

6 States, of a State law, or State administrative or judicial 

7 decision, that— 

8 ‘‘(1) defines marriage as limited to the union of 

9 one man and one woman; or 

10 ‘‘(2) refuses State recognition of or allows the 

11 State to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages 

12 performed and licensed in other States. 

13 ‘‘(b) To the extent that either a court created by Fed14 eral law or the Supreme Court has entered a final judg15 ment on a claim described in subsection (a) before the ef16 fective date of this section, that judgment binds only the 

17 parties to the case. No person who is not a party to the 

18 case shall have any obligation to comply with the decision 

19 in the case.’’. 

20 (b) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, an 

21 amendment made by this Act, or the application of such 

22 provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is 

23 held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the 

24 amendments made by this Act, and the application of such 

25 provision or amendment to any person or circumstance 

26 shall not be affected. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.— 

2 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act (including the 

3 amendment made by this Act) takes effect on the 

4 date of enactment of this Act. 

5 (2) APPLICATION.—This Act applies to all 

6 claims pending on or after that date of enactment. 

7 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 

8 The table of sections for chapter 99 of title 28, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

‘‘1632. Limitations on Federal jurisdiction.’’. 

Æ 


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